John Higgins’ slump continues as he suffers Masters first round exit

John Higgins’ struggling form on the table continued tonight after he suffered an agonising first round defeat in this year’s Masters.

The four-times world champion fell on the losing side of an eleven-frame encounter against Welshman Ryan Day who sealed victory with a stunning clearance of 128 in the final frame decider.

Since his defeat in the China Championship final in September, Higgins has only made one quarter-final appearance – a slump of form which has seen the snooker legend even call his game ‘garbage’ at one point.

And he will be disappointed tonight after letting slip of a 3-1 lead and then going on to lose despite fighting back to force a final frame decider.

It means world number 13 Day will next face either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals.